Recs.
Updated
HITMAN is the sixth game in the series that sees a refinement of previous gameplay, now in an episodic format. This is a third-person spy-themed game where players need to hide in plain sight in order to complete contract killings.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Interactive environments support player creativity
Hitman features incredibly detailed, interactive environments, more so than most games. See that bottle of rat poison in the shelf? You can use that on the target's vodka, and no one will be the wiser. Want to tamper with a fighter jet's ejection seat so that the bad guy will be launched out of his plane when he dies? Just find a wrench. Hitman is built around this kind of player creativity.
Pro Tons of choice
Each of the game's episodic levels is an incredibly detailed and complex sandbox. Players can kill enemies however they see fit. Some players might want to use disguises, others may prefer straightforward shooting, and other players might want to make the hits look like accidents. It's up to you to perform the hits how you want, and IO does a great job making sure to support you in your creativity.
Pro The stealth mechanics are intuitive
Hitman uses a cool hint system to give players clues about how to commit various assassinations, and that's an awesome mechanic, but even cooler is the costume system, which allows players to hide in plain sight. The game also features a neat mechanic that lets players know when other characters are suspicious of them.
Pro Replayability through escalation missions and player contracts
Once the main level and objective is complete, players can move on to escalation missions and player created contracts. Escalation missions are new objectives given to the player that are built around specific constraints , like what costume players must wear, and what specific characters in the level they must kill. Player-created contracts are basically the same thing, but created by other players.
Pro Interactive environments
More so than previous games in the series, Hitman has many objects that can be tampered or interacted with. Nearly any problem the player faces can be solved by using the game's many interactive objects. For players unsure where to start, the challenge system offers a wide variety of hints. For instance, the optional challenges for the first training level include one where the player must disguise himself as a special character who is scheduled to meet the target and another where the target can be given rat poison at the bar.
Pro Hiding in plain sight is intuitive
The game allows for players to easily hide in plain sight through a disguise system, like dressing up as a model at a fashion show, which gives the player access to anywhere they might want to go. This is expanded upon by having a helpful hint system for those who are unfamiliar with its intricacies.
Pro Replayability through escalations, contracts, challenges, and masteries
Once the main level and objective is complete, players can move on to escalation missions or player-created contracts. Escalation missions remix the maps, giving players new targets to complete in the same maps. Paris features 17 escalations, Sapienza has 9, and the other missions have some as well. More are being added all the time. Escalations are unusual in that they feature specific constraints, such as specific uniforms that must be worn or specific methods of assassination. This increases the difficulty, but it's great to expand each episode. The player contracts are similar, but this game mode allows the player to choose who their target is and what constraints to put in place, making for an endless list of possibilities in a particular level. Each level also features 20 'Mastery' levels, which unlock tools and insertion locations that expand the way the level can be played. Hitman is a game built to be replayed.
Cons
Con First chapter does not offer a ton of content
Much of the content in the first chapter are a bunch of training levels that are represented as being done on a set of some kind, giving a feeling of not being real. The problem here is that there is little in the way of giving a feeling of wanting to revisit these training levels, which drastically cuts down on the playable content in this chapter.
Recommendations
Comments
Out of Date Pros + Cons
Con Too many unknowns to pay full price
Hitman is an episodic game with only the first chapter released so far. To purchase this single chapter costs only $14.99. For those that want to purchase the future chapters there is a choice to pay $59.99. Being that the other chapters are unreleased, it is difficult to know know what the quality will be or even if they will be completed. Seeing that the gaming industry has had issues in the past with delivering promised content it may be a good idea to wait till everything is released in order to pay the full price that is asked. Luckily by that time the game will also be cheaper.
Con DRM issues
While playing single player, if the player looses connection to the games servers (through their own internet going down or the servers going down) the game will boot the player back to the start screen, meaning any advancement made in the game will be lost. To see this happen in single player is an issue as there is no need to be constantly connected online for the consumer and is only a detriment to the player if anything goes wrong.
This is of course a single player only game, there is no need for it to be always online, especially considering it already uses a different DRM scheme called Denuvo. Being always online means anyone who lives with spotty internet will have trouble with the game. It also means that you do not own the game even after purchasing as when the servers inevitably are shut down this single player game will be unplayable.